A prestigious Ivy League institution has stood up against the woke activists who have been intimidating conservatives into silence on college campuses throughout the United States for many years with a declaration that “free expression” will be the central focus of the upcoming academic year.

Cornell University, located in Ithaca, New York, recently revealed that it has chosen “free expression” as its guiding theme for the academic year 2023-24.

“Free expression and academic freedom have always been core parts of Cornell’s institutional identity and essential to its founding,” said an announcement.

To promote further discussions on the significance of free speech and addressing contentious topics peacefully, the university will host numerous events such as guest lectures, community book readings, and artistic exhibits throughout the year, The Blaze reported.

According to the University President, Martha E. Pollack, she is pleased with the institution’s decision to revisit its fundamental values.

“It is critical to our mission as a university to think deeply about freedom of expression and the challenges that result from assaults on it, which today come from both ends of the political spectrum,” Pollack said.

“Learning from difference, learning to engage with difference and learning to communicate across difference are key parts of a Cornell education. Free expression and academic freedom are the bedrock not just of the university but of democracy,” she added.

Since assuming the presidency of Cornell in 2017, Pollack has implemented a number of noteworthy measures to encourage the unrestricted exchange of ideas and discourage leftist activists who frequently employ interruption and bullying tactics against those with differing ideologies rather than engaging in respectful discourse.

In 2019, the university formally incorporated “free and open inquiry and expression” as one of its “core values,” which the school trustees then reaffirmed in a policy statement two years later, The Blaze noted further.

Despite the resolute leadership of both Pollack and Cornell’s board of trustees, some student activists have persisted in utilizing the “heckler’s veto” to stifle conservative viewpoints. In November of last year, eight Cornell students were escorted out of a lecture delivered by conservative speaker and Cornell alumna Ann Coulter, as they created a disturbance by shouting, chanting, and blowing an irritating whistle during her presentation.

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Following the incident, the university issued an apology to both Coulter and the individuals who attended the lecture. However, the disruptive students ultimately achieved their objective, as Coulter had to cut her speech short and depart from the venue abruptly.

The university pledged to refer the students responsible for the disturbance “for conduct violations,” although it remains unclear what consequences, if any, ensued from these referrals, The Blaze noted.

Nevertheless, a year of academic freedom sounds promising, and Pollack has remained steadfast in her commitment to free speech, as The Blaze noted further:

A few weeks ago, Cornell’s student assembly voted unanimously to require ‘”trigger warnings” for class topics that some students might find unsettling, such as domestic violence, rape, suicide, and transphobia. Pollack and university provost Michael Kotlikoff swiftly overrode that vote, claiming that a mandated trigger warning for professors “violates our faculty’s fundamental right to determine what and how to teach” and could even undermine the “academic distinction of a Cornell degree.”

“Learning to engage with difficult and challenging ideas is a core part of a university education,” Pollack and Kotlikoff insisted. “[It is] essential to our students’ intellectual growth, and to their future ability to lead and thrive in a diverse society.”